Apparatus for identifying fibers



S p ,8 1970 551' mm 7 3,527,924

APPARATUS FOR IDENTIFYING FIBERS Filed May 5, 1968 INVENTORS FRANK B.LUTZ BY PAUL E. MOTZKUS mum ATTORNE United States Patent Oflice 3,527,924 Patented Sept. 8, 1970 3,527,924 APPARATUS FOR IDENTIFYING FIBERS Frank B. Lutz, Athens, and Paul E. Motzkus, Cullman, Ala., assignors to Monsanto Company, St. Louis, Mo., a corporation of Delaware Filed May 3, 1968, Ser. No. 726,503 Int. Cl. G05n 25/04 US. Cl. 219--504 3 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE An apparatus for identifying fibers as to their generic type wherein a plurality of power resistors control the current flow through a resistance element which is selectively connectable to the power resistors. Each of the power resistors is adjusted to maintain the resistance element at a temperature which will melt a particular fiber or group of fiber types, the fiber being held in contact with the resistance element.

This invention relates to apparatus for identifying fibers and more particularly to apparatus for identifying fibers by determining the melting points thereof.

One of the problems faced by the commercial carpet cleaner is the identification of the fibers from which the carpet is made. There are a number of synthetic fibers from which carpet pile is made, each of which fibers may respond differently to a given cleaning agent. If the improper cleaning agent is used the cleaning action will not be as eflective' as desired and the carpet may even be damaged. Since determination of the identity of carpet fibers by observation alone is difficult if not impossible, it would be desirable to provide an apparatus for readily determining the identity of the fibers in the carpet. With this in mind, one of the objects of this invention is to provide a novel and improved apparatus for identifying fibers as to their generic type.

Another object of this invention is to provide an apparatus for identifying fibers by determining the melting points thereof.

A further object of this invention is to provide an apparatus having a resistance heating element adjustable to different temperatures sufiicient to melt different fibers.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent when the following detailed description is read in conjunction with the drawings, in which FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a housing showing the fiber testing chamber, and

FIG. 2 is a schematic drawing showing the circuit utilized in the invention.

Referring now in detail to the drawing, there is shown a housing 11 containing a control circuit 12, which circuit is best shown in FIG. 2. The circuit 12 is provided with an on-ofi switch 13, a fuse 14, and a pilot lamp 15. The switch 13, the fuse 14, and the pilot lamp 15 are mounted on the housing 11 but, for the purposes of clarity, are omitted from the circuit drawing. These elements do not contribute to the invention and one skilled in the art would readily know where these elements, if desired, should be connected into the circuit 12.

The circuit is powered by a 110 volt AC source acting through a transformer 18. One side of the transformer 18 is connected to a resistance element 19 which takes the form of a short length of Nichrome wire. The other side of the transformer 18 is connected to a plurality of adjustable power resistors 20, 21, 22, and 23. The power resistors 2023 are connected to contacts 27, 25, 29 and 30 of a selector switch 31 having a contactor 32. The contactor 32, which is actuated by a knob 35 mounted on the housing 11, is connected to the resistance element 19 as shown.

It can readily be seen that, by actuating the knob 35 to move the contactor 32, the operator can connect any one of the power resistors 2023 in series with the resistance element 19 across the transformer 18. The contacts 26-30 correspond, respectively with the settings or stations off, olefin, nylon-polyester, acrylic-Wool and cleanoff indicated on the face of housing 11, these settings being referred to hereinafter as Stations 1, 2, 3, and 4. The power resistors 20-23 are adjusted in such a manner that current flow through the resistance element 19 is controlled to heat the resistance element 19 to a predetermined temperature, that temperature being determined by the setting of the knob 35 and being sufiicient to melt the synthetic filament indicated at the station at which the knob 35 is set. For example, the power resistor 21 is adjusted in such a manner that when the contactor 32 contacts the contact 27 the resistance element 19 is heated to a temperature sufficient to melt both nylon and polyester fibers.

The resistance element 19 is mounted in a transparent housing 36 secured to the top of the housing 11 and is connected between a pair of brackets 38 and 39 mounted on and insulated from the housing 11, the metal brackets 38 and 39 being connected through the housing into the circuit 12 to apply power to the resistance element 19.

The transparent chamber 36 is provided with a window 40 through which a fiber sample is inserted and moved into contact with the resistance element 19.

In operation of the apparatus, the carpet cleaner would remove from the carpet a small clump of fibers, insert the fibers through the window 40 into contact with the resistance element 19. The operator would then turn the knob 35 to Station 1 to thereby cause the contactor 32 to engage the contact 27. This heats the resistance element 19 to a temperature suflicient to melt an olefin fiber. If the fiber does not melt the operator then moves the knob to Station 2 whereupon the resistance element is heated to a temperature sufficient to melt nylon or polyester. If the fiber melts at this point the operator knows that the fiber is either nylon or polyester and then must make a further determination by other methods to determine which it is.

If the fiber does not melt at Station 2, the knob is moved to Station 3 whereupon the resistance element is heated to a temperature suflicient to decompose wool and acrylic fibers. If such decomposition takes place, these fibers can be differentiated by their odor.

When the knob 35 is moved to Station 4, the resistance element becomes hot enough to burn off any fiber residue left from previous tests.

What is claimed is:

1. A device for identifying carpet fibers, comprising;

(a) a housing,

(b) a power supply mounted in the housing,

(c) a resistance element connected to one side of the power supply;

(d) a plurality of power resistors having different resistance values, said resistors being connected in parallel to the other side of the power supply,

(e) a selector switch mounted on the housing and connected to the resistance element for connecting said resistance element across the power supply in series with a selected one of the power resistors, and

(f) a transparent chamber mounted on the housing and having in one side thereof an opening, said resistance element being mounted in the chamber in close proximity to said opening.

2. The device of claim 1 wherein the power resistors are adjustable with each of said resistors being adjusted 3 to control the current flow through the resistance element in such a manner that said resistance element is heated to difierent temperatures when connected to different resistors, said different temperatures being sufiicient to melt diiferent synthetic fibers.

3. The device of claim 2 wherein one of said power resistors is adjusted to control current flow through the resistance element in such a manner that said resistance element is heated to a temperature sufficient to burn off any residues of the synthetic fibers adhering thereto.

4 References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 8/1949 McMillan 219240 FOREIGN PATENTS 915,884 11/1946 France.

BERNARD A. GILHEANY, Primary Examiner 10 F. E. BELL, Assistant Examiner 

